Kylie (album)
|length = 35:22 |label = |producer = Stock Aitken Waterman |certification = 6x Platinum (UK) |next_album = |this_album = |single_one = |single1date = 20 July 1987 |single_two = |single2date = 9 December 1987 |single_three = |single3date = 2 May 1988 |single_four = |single4date = 28 July 1988 |single_five = |single5date = 17 October 1988 |single_six = |single6date = 15 December 1988 |single_seven = |single7date = 21 December 1988 }} Kylie is the debut studio album by Kylie Minogue, released by PWL on 4 July 1988. The album was produced by Stock, Aitken and Waterman, who also wrote nine of the ten tracks on the album. Most of the album's composition is dance-pop music, with strong teen pop and bubblegum pop influences. The album contains a few ballads, namely "Je Ne Sais Pas Pourquoi", "It's No Secret", "I'll Still Be Loving You" and "I Miss You". The main bulk of the album repeated the teen pop and dance-pop style as seen in "I Should Be So Lucky" and "The Loco-Motion". The album has received a mixed reception from music critics. Many applauded the album itself, while some did not like another bubblegum pop musician, and critics compared it to American singer and songwriter Madonna's self-titled album (1983). Despite the mixed critical reaction, Kylie was a worldwide success. It peaked at number one in three countries, including the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Japan, and it produced three number one singles in Australia. In North America, the album peaked low on the Billboard charts, yet still managed to sell over 500,000 copies and was certified gold. In Australia, the album was re-issued as The Kylie Collection also in 1988, as well as a VHS video in Australia and featuring bonus remixes. Kylie was certified seven times platinum in the UK and has sold over 5 million copies worldwide. Kylie had a total of six singles released from the album worldwide. Her debut single was a cover of the Little Eva single "The Loco-Motion", written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King, which charted worldwide and went to number one in a total of eight countries, and peaked in the top ten of twenty countries, becoming one of Kylie's most successful singles to date. The follow up single was "I Should Be So Lucky", which went to number one in seven countries, including Australia and the United Kingdom, and peaked at number twenty-eight on the US Billboard charts. Background and recording In 1979, an 11 year-old Kylie Minogue was established as a child actress, appearing as a cameo actress in the TV series The Sullivans and Skyways. Both Kylie and her sister Dannii Minogue were child stars trying to achieve success in the TV industry of Australia, but Dannii received better opportunities as a TV actress than Kylie. In 1985, Kylie was cast as one of the lead roles on TV soap The Henderson Kids but her role only lasted one season, and was completed after two seasons. Interested in following a career in music, she made a demo tape for the producers of the weekly music programme Young Talent Time, which featured Dannii as a regular performer. Kylie gave her first television singing performance on the show in 1985 but was not invited to join the cast. Dannii's success overshadowed Kylie's acting achievements, until Kylie was cast in the soap opera Neighbours in 1986, as Charlene Mitchell, a schoolgirl turned garage mechanic. Neighbours achieved popularity in the UK, and a story arc that created a romance between her character and the character played by Jason Donovan, culminated in a wedding episode in 1987 that attracted an audience of 20 million British viewers. In 1987, during a Fitzroy Football Club benefit concert, the other cast members of Neighbours put on their own talent stage show. Kylie had not prepared anything so she performed a cover version of "The Loco-Motion" - she was then immediately signed to a recording contract with Mushroom Records. The song was released as a single in Australia, and became the highest-selling single of the 1980s. Its success resulted in Kylie travelling to London with Mushroom Records executive Gary Ashley to work with Stock, Aitken and Waterman. They didn't know a lot about Kylie and had forgotten that she was arriving; as a result, they wrote "I Should Be So Lucky" while she waited outside the studio. Kylie recorded the song in less than an hour, and returned home to Australia to work on Neighbours. The song became a huge chart success, and Mike Stock travelled to Melbourne to apologize to Kylie for forgetting about her previous recording session. While Stock was there, Kylie recorded her next single, "Got to Be Certain" along with the album tracks, the Japan-only single release, "Turn It into Love", and USA/Japan single "It's No Secret". Stock successfully convinced Kylie to return to London in the beginning of 1988 to record songs for her debut album. Development Kylie was eventually signed to Mushroom Records in early 1987. The first song that Ly;oe had ever considered to record was the successful "The Loco-Motion", which she instantly fell in love with when she first heard it. When she performed for a fundraiser in Australia, she performed Sonny & Cher's song "I Got You Babe". Alan Hardy, who asked Kylie to perform at the fundraiser, noticed that she was very nervous in performing. However, the crowd were ecstatic of her performance. Hardy later asked if she would do another and, to her surprise, she performed "The Loco-Motion", already rehearsing the song before the performance. Kylie went to record the song in Melbourne but could not record the song in the same key as the backing track, so she went to improve her vocals so she could change her pitch to E minor. After the success of her debut single "Locomotion" in Australia, Kylie traveled to London to work with Stock Aitken Waterman, a successful British writing and production team. As a result of forgetting that Kylie was coming, they wrote "I Should Be So Lucky" in forty minutes while she waited outside the recording studio. Mike Stock wrote the lyrics for the song in response to what he had learned about Kylie prior to her arrival. He believed that although she was a successful soap star in Australia and very talented, there must be something wrong with her and figured that she must be unlucky in love. Kylie recorded the song in less than an hour, which Stock attributes to her good ear for music and her quick memorization skills. After Kylie finished the recording session she returned home to Australia to continue work on the soap opera, Neighbours. After hearing the song, Waterman said "I thought it was fantastic, so I ran over to the DJ and asked him what it was. He said 'Its Kylie Minogue - I Should Be So Lucky'." He later said to Mike Stock that the song would be an instant smash hit. Composition According to Allmusic, the view the album as a Pop Rock and electronic album that is inspired by many sub musical styles such as dance-pop, eurodance and teen-pop. The first song, "I Should Be So Lucky" is a dance-pop oriented song, which features elements of bubblegum pop and new wave music. According to the music sheet on MusicNotes.com, which was published by Universal Music Publishing Group, the song is set in the key of C Major. Kylie's vocals span from the key note of D4 to the key note of C5. The song is set in common time and moves at a moderate tempo of 120 beats per minute. The song features synthesizers, keyboards and guitars. According to PopMatters, they said the song features "numerous orchestra hits to the uncomfortably thin sounding drum machine." "Je Ne Sais Pas Pourquoi" is a pop ballad song, which is also inspired by minor teen-pop and dance-pop styles, which features instruments including drum machine, synthesizers and some minor guitar riffs. A substantially different early demo version of "Je Ne Sais Pas Pourquoi" is known to exist, although it has never been officially released. This version is said to have a completely different intro and is of a slightly faster tempo and has a stronger beat. The songs "Got to Be Certain" and "It's No Secret" are both dance-inspired songs, while the latter is inspired by more ballad music, while "Turn It Into Love" is a house music song. Reception 'Critical response' Kylie had received mixed reviews from music critics. Chris True from Allmusic gave it two-and-a-half out of five stars, giving it a mixed review. He said "While the production values on Kylie's debut are dated at best and the tunes are nothing but standard late-'80s Stock-Aitken-Waterman bubblegum, there are some rather endearing qualities to it. Firstly, she shows a lot more personality than the other Stock, et al." He did say that Kylie would become a pop star and a "European icon". Nick Levine of Digital Spy gave it three stars out of five. The stand out track, he said, was "I Should Be So Lucky", as he said "but anyone who denies 'I Should Be So Lucky' classic status has clearly let their tune detection muscles turn to flab". He also finished saying "The bog-standard S.A.W. production renders Kylie as dated as that haircut on the album cover, and it's as loaded with variety as a loaf of bread, but the little Aussie pop rocket is already showing signs of personality and the record's quintessentially '80s charm ultimately wins through." Chart performance Kylie debuted at number two in the UK on 16 July 1988. However, in its seventh week, the album eventually peaked at number one, staying there for four consecutive weeks, and two weeks in November 1988, and was certified six times platinum at the start of 1989. It sold 1.8 million copies in 1988 (eventually sold 2,105,698 copies) and became that year's best selling album.Kylie was the first album by a female solo artist to exceed sales of two million in the UK, and is the 58th best-selling album of all time. Eventually, in 1989, Kylie became the youngest singer ever in UK music history to have a number one album, and held that record until Canadian recording artist Avril Lavigne's album Let Go was released in 2003. In Australia, the album entered at number two, where it eventually peaked for three consecutive weeks, and stayed in the charts for a total of twenty-eight weeks. The album was certified six-times platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), at a time when platinum in Australia was awarded for sales of 100,000 - equating to over 600,000 copies sold. In New Zealand, the album remains Kylie's longest and only number one album. The album debuted at number ten, and eventually peaked at number one for six weeks. The album then stayed in the charts for a total of fifty-three weeks. As of September 2014, Kylie is the 330th best selling album in New Zealand. The album reached the top ten in Germany, Norway, and Switzerland, and sold 143,627 in Sweden. Kylie managed to even chart in the United States, where it debuted at number fifty-three on the Billboard 200. This was Kylie's last album in the United States, until her 2002 album Fever. In 1989, the album was certified gold in the United States, selling over 500,000 copies, and platinum in Canada. Kylie has sold over 5 million copies worldwide. Singles "Locomotion", Kylie's first single release, spent seven weeks at number one on the Australian singles chart, and was the highest-selling single in the country for the 1980s. This version of "Locomotion" is often aired on VH-1 Europe. It, however, was only an Australian release and was not part of her debut album project until re-recorded for release in 1988. "I Should Be So Lucky" was the first single from the album and featured lyrics written by Mike Stock. Stock believed that although Kylie was a successful soap star in Australia and very talented, there must be something wrong with her and figured that she must be unlucky in love. It became a number one hit for Kylie in Australia and the United Kingdom. "Got to Be Certain", the second single, reached number one in Australia, and was moderately successful in other parts of the world, reaching number two in the UK for three weeks and the top ten in Germany and Switzerland. Kylie re-recorded "Locomotion" in April 1988, retitling the song "The Loco-Motion". It was released as the album's third single and became the highest entry of the UK singles chart by a female artist. In North America, it reached number one in Canada and number three on the Billboard Hot 100. "Je Ne Sais Pas Pourquoi", the fourth single, reached number two in the UK. "It's No Secret" was released as the album's fifth single in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, North America, and Japan where it was the fourth single. "Turn It into Love" was exclusively released in Japan as the fifth single and spent 10 weeks at Number 1 with no promotion or video. Track listings All songs written and produced byMike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman, except "The Loco-Motion", which was written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King. Credits adapted from the liner notes of Kylie. ("Love at First Sight" below is entirely unrelated to the better-known song of the same name Minogue recorded in 2001). }} }} }} }} Category:Albums Category:Studio albums Category:Kylie Category:PWL Category:1988